umhverfislegir

Umhverfislegir is the masculine plural nominative form of the Icelandic adjective umhverfislegur, meaning environmental or pertaining to the environment. It is used to describe masculine plural nouns, for example umhverfislegir lög (environmental laws). The feminine plural form is umhverfislegar reglur, and the neuter form is umhverfislegt. The singular forms are umhverfislegur (masculine), umhverfisleg (feminine), and umhverfislegt (neuter).

Origin and morphology: The root umhverfis- derives from umhverfi, environment, with the suffix -legur forming adjectives meaning “pertaining to.” Thus, umhverfislegir denotes things relating to the environment, used in Icelandic to categorize policy, law, or topics in environmental discourse.

Usage: Umhverfislegir appears mainly in formal or technical Icelandic, in government documents, academic articles, media coverage, and public debate about environmental policy. It collocates with nouns such as lög (laws) and reglur (regulations), producing phrases like umhverfislegir lög and umhverfislegar reglur. The term is neutral and descriptive, not a value judgment.

See also: Icelandic terms related to the environment include umhverfisvernd (environmental protection), umhverfisráðherra (Minister of the Environment), and umhverfismál (environmental issues).

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